Thursday, April 06, 2006

Some days you just need to get your geek on

Because you're too overwhelmed by patriarchal vileness to do anything else.

Yo! So I hope you all have seen this beauty, the kiwa hirsuta discovered in the Pacific Ocean. The furry crustacean was found "in waters 2,300m (7,540ft) deep at a site 1,500km (900 miles) south of Easter Island, an expert has claimed." I think it's really cool. But you're all thinking to yourselves, that's old news, why are you posting about it now? Because now, dear readers, you can make your own! That's right, and I know that I will be downloading the pattern and making my very own kiwa hirsuta. It's so cute!!!

But that's not all gentle readers, this edition of Lost Clown shows us how geeky she really is also answers the question: "Why do you want
to be an astrophysicist", or more accurately: "why do you want to get into space so damn bad?" (Not that I think humans per se, should be in space, but I still want to go.) Here you go, the dirty little secret reason I want to be an astrophysicist. It has nothing to do with an obsession with the stars or the fact that I love physics, OR the fact that I want to turn physics into a "girly" science. No it's because I'm a Klown (synonym for lush) and they have found a giant cloud of alcohol in space. Not so much the kind you drink, but we can work on that. (And I plan to.)

This one speaks for itself "Men are very bad for women really," he said. But women are good for men!.
Probably not what you think, but check it out anyway. (hat tip for alcohol and the last 2 links: Inky Circus.)

I got something for ya:
Isn't it pretty? Dead stars and new planets?

NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope has uncovered new evidence that planets might rise up out of a dead star's ashes.

The infrared telescope surveyed the scene around a pulsar, the remnant of an exploded star, and found a surrounding disk made up of debris shot out during the star's death throes. The dusty rubble in this disk might ultimately stick together to form planets.

This is the first time scientists have detected planet-building materials around a star that died in a fiery blast.

Cool, no?

Ok, so I took my ecological footprint test at Care2 and got these results:


CATEGORY ACRES
FOOD 2.5
MOBILITY 0.7
SHELTER 6.7
GOODS/SERVICES 4.9
TOTAL FOOTPRINT 15

IN COMPARISON, THE AVERAGE ECOLOGICAL FOOTPRINT IN YOUR COUNTRY IS 24 ACRES PER PERSON.

WORLDWIDE, THERE EXIST 4.5 BIOLOGICALLY PRODUCTIVE ACRES PER PERSON.

IF EVERYONE LIVED LIKE YOU, WE WOULD NEED 3.3 PLANETS.

Update: When I addd all the people who live in the house (appx. 6) my score goes down to 2 planets. It's definitely the living alone thing.

Do I need to cut back or what. I thought I was doing so well (comparatively to other residents of this country I guess I am. My neighbours are so much worse.) Though I notice that it's my shelter that's eating up. And that's why i spend most my time in the woods. (Hat tip: The Nut House.)

OK, that's all for now, but I do hope to geek out more often as astrophysics is my chosen "career" path and I am in love with it. (among other random science geekiness. I just understand what the physicists are talking about more then the other scientists. I barely passed bio and chem classes. Thinking about them still makes me cringe.)

4 comments:

  1. I have a footprint of 8.

    only 1.9 planets for me.

    I loooooove that crab, and all the methanol. We can send out a probe to convert it to ethanol, it'll work, I *swear*. Please?

    The only disappointing discoveries are the ones like the "forming planet" because it makes it sound like we'll get to see a new planet born, when really it'll still take a few million years to happen. Damnit, I want a new planet to form while I watch.

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  2. I bet my footprint would go down significantly if I lived with other people.

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  3. Anonymous7/4/06 07:33

    I got a footprint of 10. I live with four other people, and hardly drive. It would help if more organic/local food was available here.

    Thanks for posting that, though, because I'd never seen that website before.

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